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National Jewish Health Doctors Identify Health Disparities For Indigenous Coal Miners With Black Lung Disease
Researchers at National Jewish Health found that Indigenous coal miners may develop disabling black lung disease but are less likely to qualify for medical benefits using currently required lung function standards rather than standards specific to Indigenous populations.
Black lung (also called coal worker's pneumoconiosis) is a debilitating respiratory illness that can occur several decades after a miner's first exposure to coal mine dust. Disease severity can be influenced by adequacy of dust controls, medical surveillance programs for early disease detection, choice of lung function standards to define "abnormal," and other risk factors such as tobacco smoking. Because Indigenous populations face numerous health disparities, researchers also wanted to assess if they face barriers to federal compensation for black lung disease.
"Racial disparities in access to benefits for work-related lung disease need to be addressed as updated lung function standards are being implemented," said Jeremy Hua, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and pulmonologist and occupational/environmental physician at National Jewish Health.
Over the past 16 years, doctors at National Jewish Health have provided free yearly medical screenings for work-related lung disease as part of a federally funded Miners Clinic in Page, Arizona. This part of the country has a substantial proportion of Indigenous coal miners, and approximately 30% of coal reserves west of the Mississippi River are on native lands. Research recently published in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines how lung function testing results may vary, depending on which standards are used to define what is normal versus abnormal. Investigators also explored how many of the participating coal miners had chest X-ray findings of black lung.
"We found that, for each decade of life, Indigenous coal miners were more likely to have both black lung and lung function impairment than non-Indigenous coal miners," said Cecile Rose, MD, MPH, senior author of the study, and pulmonologist and occupational/environmental physician at National Jewish Health. Dr. Rose emphasized that, based on the study findings, "more efforts are needed to understand and prevent black lung and other respiratory diseases affecting Indigenous workers."
National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 124 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit njhealth.Org or the media resources page.
JournalAnnals of the American Thoracic Society
Article TitleRacial Differences in Respiratory Impairment, Pneumoconiosis, and Federal Compensation for Western U.S. Indigenous Coal Miners
Article Publication Date2-Nov-2023
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! Are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! By contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
National Jewish Health Study Examines COVID Vaccine Protection For Patients With Lung Conditions
DENVER — Clinicians and researchers at National Jewish Health studied COVID vaccine effectiveness in patients with underlying lung conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). Findings show that nearly half of respiratory patients have lower vaccine-specific antibody, B cell, and T cell responses compared to healthy individuals. Decreased immunity to the vaccine suggests that patients with underlying lung conditions may be less protected against COVID-19. Understanding why they aren't responding can give doctors a chance to treat patients differently.
"Most of the studies for the COVID vaccine have focused on how well the vaccine protects healthy people," said R. Lee Reinhardt, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine and senior author of the study recently published in the European Respiratory Journal-Open Research. "There is not a lot of data available to know if it protects people with respiratory conditions the same way."
Researchers studied the antibody, B-cell and T-cell responses in patients with respiratory conditions compared to healthy controls using samples from patients participating in the National Jewish Health Biobank research database. From blood samples, investigators measured vaccine-specific serum antibody, B cell and T cell levels, as well as their function. All parameters showed that patients with lung disease were significantly more likely to generate a poor vaccine response than their healthy counterparts.
"If these patients with lung conditions have fewer antibodies, their pulmonologists may have to design a more personalized vaccine approach," said Haolin Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine and first author on the study. "They are more susceptible to exposure and can have their vaccine schedule adjusted."
"COVID-19 is still around, and we don't know what the future holds," said Dr. Reinhardt. "There could be a winter surge and we need to understand how the immune response effects everyone – not just healthy people."
National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 124 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of children and adults with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit the media resources page.
JournalEuropean Respiratory Journal
Article TitleVaccine-elicited B and T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is impaired in chronic lung disease patients
Article Publication Date24-Jul-2023
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! Are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! By contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.
Dr. Matthew Koslow, MD
Age 50 Pulmonary Disease M
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Dr. Matthew Koslow, MD works in Denver, CO as a Pulmonologist and has 7 years experience.
They are board certified in Internal Medicine and graduated from George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences in 2016. Dr. Koslow completed a residency at Montefiore Medical Center - Moses Division. Dr. Koslow has has worked on more claims relating to Shortness of Breath, Asphyxia and Hypoxemia and Interstitial Lung Disease than other providers in the area. They are affiliated with Swedish Medical Center. They are accepting new patients. Dr. Koslow practices at National Jewish Health - Denver - Jackson in Denver, CO.
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